Set-top box clients

In IP-TV networks, the set-top box is a small computer providing two-way communications on an IP network, and decoding the video streaming media. IP set-top boxes have a built in home network interface which can be Ethernet or one of the existing wire home networking technologies such as HomePNA or the ITU-T G.hn standard, which provides a way to create a high-speed (up to 1 Gigabit/s) Local area network using existing home wiring.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.org

The Perception™ Platform is fully integrated with the majority of the leading IP-TV hardware vendors. Because of the highly adaptable nature of the design, The Perception™ Platform allows the provider to deploy and combine many different models of set-top boxes to the IP-TV network simultaneously, including those of different vendors.

This feature guarantees optimal cost-efficiency and allows the provider to, for example, deploy low-cost set-top boxes to subscribers that have limited access to the platform due to their subscription status and provisioning options.

The set-top boxes access multimedia features over the IP network from the Multimedia Gateway Cloud. This centralized layout dramatically minimizes the administration costs. The Perception™ Platform's advanced integration with the set-top box clients also guarantees support for the co-existence of different implementation designs of the same multimedia feature.

For example, the co-existence of the Set-top box based Personal Video Recorder (PVR) and Network Based Personal Video Recording System (nPVR) is fully supported. This allows the implementation of sophisticated dynamic marketing approaches and further lowers the costs of hardware equipment required, based on the type of the subscribers and their needs.